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“It was fine, and speaking of which, I need to write my article. Marlene’s rushing this one.” I raised my brow and waited for her to take the hint.
“Alright.” She stood up with a grunt. “You can tell me more on Friday. You’re coming to drinks, right?”
I smiled tightly. “Right.” Not if Pete is going to be there.
Amy narrowed her eyes, before returning to her office across the hall.
Turning back to my laptop, I opened the file of images from my whirlwind trip to Vegas. I flicked through them until the bachelorette’s pretty face filled my screen. All I knew about Melanie Warren was that Maude was one of her favourite magazines. For some reason, celebrities and socialites loved our little publication, and in particular, my feature Capturing Love.
It was a unique idea that had become, to my surprise, one of Maude’s most popular segments. Normally I would interview and photograph ordinary couples and write about their journey together, but lately I’d been forced to spotlight celebrity couples. Ick.
The lives of the rich and famous really weren’t my thing, and I wasn’t a born wordsmith, so every article was a struggle to pull together. Getting up close and personal with Melanie Warren was a rare opportunity to try and get a real story and an honest photograph. The Warren family had paid a large sum of money to have her wedding and the lead up featured over the next two editions. Usually we didn’t accept payment for exclusives, but we needed the money to stay in business, so the deal was made.
I didn’t know the first thing about Melanie and preferred it that way. Having no pre-conceived idea about the person she was made it much easier to interview and photograph her. It also kept me from becoming a bumbling mess.
She seemed nice enough, but unfortunately possessed all the princess traits you would expect from an only daughter in a massively rich family. I had no complaints though. I was treated exceptionally, from the moment I arrived at her hotel suite, right up until I was politely asked to leave by her so-called-friends who wanted to really ‘get the party started’.
Melanie loved being the centre of attention and was ecstatic to find out she’d be staring in a special feature of Capturing Love. She was under the impression we asked her family, but it was actually her parents who approached us to do the piece. A ‘secret wedding gift’ they called it. Even her husband-to-be was unaware of the plan.
As I studied the photographs on my computer screen, I noticed something unusual about the images I took while she described her fiancé. The light in her eyes dulled. I compared them with the photos of her raving about her wedding dress and decided to use these for the article instead. There was something missing, and it left me wondering who exactly she was marrying. Opening my web browser, I typed in ‘Melanie Warren’s fiancé’ into the search field, but a light tap on my open door distracted me before I could hit enter.
Glancing up, I found my boss striding into my office. I fumbled over the keyboard, frantically trying to close the screen displaying the blatant admission I hadn’t been prepared for my interview with Melanie. In my defence, I’d only had a day’s notice.
I smiled tightly. “Marlene, hi! I’ll have that article to you by the end of the day, I promise.”
The editor and owner of Maude slumped into the chair in front of my desk with a dramatic sigh. “Oh, don’t bother.”
“What? Why?” Worry lines consumed my forehead.
“They called off the wedding.”
My blood ran cold. “What?!” I knew how much we needed that job.
“They just released a statement ten minutes ago. It’s apparently ‘postponed’, but you know what that means. My sources say William Harlow grew cold feet.” Why does that name sound so familiar?
I grabbed the world globe stress ball off my desk and squeezed it tightly. “Oh my god, I could kill him. Who does that so close to their wedding day?”
Marleen smirked. “At least you did it right before the proposal.”
“Wow, Pete really told everyone, didn’t he?” I asked, rolling my eyes as my fingers almost split the stress ball in two.
Marleen let out a little chuckle. “Well, not everyone. I heard from Linda, who heard from Trudi, who heard it from that bitter woman in accounting.”
I groaned and leant back into my chair, more concerned about my job. “So, what are we going to do now?”
She stood up and walked towards the door. “Just put together a fluff piece. I’m starting to think this magazine is doomed.”
I shuddered. “Me too,” I whispered. Me fucking too.
* * *
Word that our company was in trouble spread quicker than my breakup with Pete. We all spent the next three weeks walking on eggshells, while discreetly checking job advertisements online. I had no idea what I was going to do. Jobs like mine were hard to come by and I didn’t have enough money saved to travel, so I had a lot to think and stress about.
“I need you to cover a wedding,” Marlene said, barely looking up as she typed away on her computer. She hit enter and leant back in her chair, entwinning her fingers as she peered up at me. “I wouldn’t normally take a job like this, but in all honesty, we need the money. And after losing Melanie Warren’s wedding, this is the next best thing.”
I nodded. “So, what’s the problem?”
“The bride-to-be is Sabrina Lowman. Frenemy of Melanie Warren.”
